"Sure, people asked about our team," said Johns with a laugh, referring to the 7-20 squad of 1995-96. "They wanted to know how we could go 1-16 in the Big Ten or if we ever were going to win another game. I like the questions we are getting this season much better."

A large credit for Michigan's early success this season (7-1) belongs to Johns, an Evanston graduate. She is averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per game, both team highs and a solid encore to her All-Big Ten second-team performance last season that featured averages of 14.5 points and 9.9 rebounds.

But Johns doesn't buy into the scenario that as she goes, so go the Wolverines. Instead, she deflects the praise to the newest member of the squad, someone who never shoots, rebounds or passes the basketball--coach Sue Guevara.

"I could tell we were going to be a winning program from the first time I met with her this summer," said Johns of Guevara, who was a women's basketball assistant at Michigan State before taking the head-coaching job at Michigan this season.

"Coach Guevara was so full of enthusiasm and very optimistic about what we could accomplish, slightly different from what we went through last season. She doesn't focus so much on the won-lost record but more on us going out and executing our respective jobs.

"And we are winning because there isn't any girl on this team trying to do the job of two people."

Johns' job description has a little more detail than some of her other teammates--sort of like comparing the president's responsibilities to those of his Cabinet members.

The extra expectations are inherently built in when talking of a player with Johns' skills. Then again, it's not a position she really thought she would achieve--not when one considers that Johns, who grew up in Jamaica, didn't start playing basketball until she was a freshman at Evanston.

"That's really amazing, isn't it?" said Guevara of Johns' quick development. "With the way she has improved in just six or seven short years, I always tell Pollyanna her best basketball is ahead of her."

"Everyone wanted me to go out for the team because I was so tall," said the 6-foot-3-inch Johns. "They didn't know I had little or no coordination.

"I was falling all over myself out on the court and couldn't come close to making a shot. I remember coaches working with me every morning at Evanston just to get me familiar with the game."

Johns wants to become familiar with a winning season, something that has been foreign to the Michigan women during their 20-88 run over the last four years.

She views this season's team with guarded optimism, mainly because the Wolverines started 6-3 last year only to be run over in the Big Ten and finish at 7-20.

But something is already different about this current team. Actually, it was Michigan's first loss that made Johns believe.

It was not just any loss--a 77-74 defeat in the championship of the Hawaiian Air Wahine Classic to top-ranked Stanford.

"I actually blame myself for that loss. I'm usually a good free-throw shooter, and I hit just three of nine in the game," said Johns, who scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in a losing effort and was named to the all-tournament team.

"The fact we were down 17 points in the second half to the No. 1 team and still had a chance to win in the final minute did show us we can play with anybody."

She added: "I want to be the one to go to when the game's on the line, whether it's sinking the deciding shot or making the big defensive stop."